2023 Best Value Public Policy Master's Degree Schools in California
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Finding the Best Public Policy Master's Degree School for You
Public Policy is the #46 most popular major in California with 546 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.
It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.
To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Value Public Policy Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 9 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value master's degree programs for public policy students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.
Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.
In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.
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2023 Best Value Public Policy Master’s Degree Schools in California
The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for public policy majors pursuing a master's degree.
Best California Schools for Affordable Quality for a Master's in Public Policy
Our analysis found University of California - Berkeley to be the best value school for public policy students who want to pursue a master’s degree in California. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public school located in the city of Berkeley.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Berkeley are $14,160 per year.
In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UC Berkeley is ranked #2 for overall quality for public policy in California.
Read full report on Public Policy at University of California - Berkeley
The excellent master’s degree programs at University of California - Los Angeles helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value public policy schools in California. UCLA is a fairly large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UCLA are $13,036 per year.
UCLA did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our Best Public Policy Master’s Degree Schools in California list.
Full Public Policy at University of California - Los Angeles Report
Out of the 9 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - San Francisco landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the city of San Francisco, UCSF is a public college with a small student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UCSF are $12,999 a year.
Read full report on Public Policy at University of California - San Francisco
Out of the 9 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Irvine landed the # 4 spot on the list. UC Irvine is a fairly large public school located in the city of Irvine.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Irvine are $13,356 a year.
Full Public Policy at University of California - Irvine Report
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California Lutheran University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Public Policy Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of Thousand Oaks, CLU is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at CLU are $20,600 per year.
Read full report on Public Policy at California Lutheran University
University of California - Riverside landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree public policy programs. UCR is a very large public school located in the large city of Riverside.
UCR graduate students pay an average of $13,467 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
University of Southern California came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public Policy Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at USC are $61,396 a year.
USC also took the #5 spot in our Best Public Policy Master’s Degree Schools in California rankings.
Read full report on Public Policy at University of Southern California
With a ranking of #8, Pepperdine University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for public policy students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large suburb of Malibu, Pepperdine is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Pepperdine are $37,420 a year.
Mills College ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Public Policy Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Mills is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Oakland.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Mills are $36,443 per year.
Best Value Public Policy Colleges in the Far Western US Region
Explore all the Best Value Public Policy Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.
State | Degrees Awarded |
---|---|
Washington | 22 |
Oregon | 47 |
Nevada | 12 |
Alaska | 0 |
More Public Policy Rankings in California
Public Policy Related Majors for Public Policy
Public Policy is one of 5 different types of programs to choose from.
Majors Similar to Public Policy
Related Major | Annual Graduates |
---|---|
Social Work | 33,631 |
Public Administration | 13,571 |
Human Services | 1,277 |
Community Organization & Advocacy | 741 |
Other Public Administration | 295 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 9 schools only.
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to The Official CTBTO Photostream.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
Featured Schools
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